Almost There
by glastail24
Summary: Post S1 finale / During Emma and Snow's absence, a mysterious house appears in Storybrooke. One by one, various citizens find themselves drawn to it, unable to resist its allure. But why has this place appeared, and who is it helping? (multi-chapter, Regina-centric to begin W/ SwanQueen Endgame)
1. Une

**Prologue**

She stared down at her hands, which were wrapped in tan gauze. Flexing her fingers, she found them a little stiff, but not nearly as sore as she remembered.

Remembered…

She, remembered. Why she was here. Who she really was. What was going on. The pulse that had spread throughout the town, passed through her, had filled her with warmth suddenly, and then a flood of memories coursed through her mind. Everything came back suddenly.

A soft cackle at her left side pulled her out of her thoughts. Looking over she noticed a plump black woman. Her face looked ancient with wrinkles traversing deeply across her skin, and lips pulled back on themselves in the absence of teeth. Though the woman was obviously blind, she stared deeply at the woman, exuberant amusement written across her face that contradicted her addled age.

"It's about time you woke up, mon chéri. It's been too long we been livin' in this fog." She then looked outside the window and let out a soft sigh at something only she could see behind the horizon. "It's high time we got some of this feelin' back."

Though the woman in bandages had come to understand much of the elderly woman's sayings over time, she was truly baffled about what she could be talking about this time.

"I don't understand. What are you talking about? "

"Magic, chile. Magic is coming."

 **Une**

 _2 months later_

Regina was never late. Among her many talents, punctuality remained a potent tool, and yet this morning, she was running late for her office. Ever since that idiot Emma and her even more idiotic mother Snow, or Mary Margaret—she never bothered to remember what she preferred to be called these days—had fallen through that portal, admittedly on her behalf, her schedule had been increasingly hard to keep. As much as she hated acknowledging it, they had largely been the forces keeping her safe from the townspeople's wrath. As it stood now, she was only barely allowed to maintain her office because no one had the experience, cunning, and, ironically, patience to handle the mayoral duties. Still, never one to let grudges go so easily, the lovely citizens of Storybrooke made it much harder for her live her everyday life outside of her office.

Which is why this Monday morning as she left her house, she discovered her black Mercedes had been egged beyond recognition in her driveway. No doubt this was done by some of the more juvenile members of the community (at least she hoped so, because she found the idea of a grown adult doing such tasteless acts of vandalism quite insulting), but nevertheless, without her magic fully restored, it was impossible for her to clean up the mess in a timely manner. Which meant that she found herself walking to her office from her home on Mifflin St.—effectively cutting the time she had to pass by Grannies for her morning cup of coffee and fruit before heading to work. She supposed she could stop there regardless if she really didn't mind facing the morning crowd of Stroybrooke's early risers, but after the morning she was having, she wasn't entirely sure she could leave without _someone_ getting scorched.

So it was that the Madam Mayor of Storybrooke found herself bypassing her usual route to work, which would normally have been adjusted for her stop at Granny's, and took another route. Her brisk pace helped to deflect some of the chill of an early morning with low light, and yet she found herself walking slower as she continued on the way to her office. Looking around, she noticed that the area she was in didn't feel too familiar at all. But that wasn't right, right? She had lived here in this cursed town for 28 years, and had seen, and controlled, every inch of it the entire time. And yet, here she was, on a block that looked completely foreign to her. In fact, it looked completely foreign to the entire landscape and fabric of Storybrooke.

Dotted on both sides of the street were large willow trees with Spanish moss hanging gently from them, while further away on the landscape baldcypress could be seem looming in gathering water. There was the undercurrent noise of some bug buzzing in the air, like a hushed lullaby of the earth and she swears it was much hotter here than anywhere else in Storybrooke. In fact, it felt like someone had turned off the cool sea breeze and replaced it with the 100% humidity of a more Southern region. And the icing on top of the weird cake was the home sitting in the midst of all this. Well, it looked like a home. It was rather stately, but also humble at the same time. Surrounded by beautifully manicured magnolia trees, it was a two-story home with pristine white columns contrasting with the warm yellow paneling. Dark blue shutters lay open at the numerous windows placed evenly on both floors of the wrap around porches, and intricate wrought iron protected the length of the 2nd floor patio. She found herself drawn to it, and before she realized, she was pushing her way through the wrought iron fences encased around the property. Work be damned—she could wait to hear her citizens' equal cries for her head on a stick and more funding later.

Walking up the short steps to the house, if that was what this was, she noticed an elderly African-American woman rocking softly in a wooden chair. She was looking out at the street, or at least, faced the direction of it. Regina was fairly certain she didn't see anything. Which is why she was so startled when the old woman spoke.

"I was wonderin' when you would show up here."

Puzzled at having been noticed, and no less addressed in such a casual tone, Regina let out a prickly "Excuse me?"

But the women just let out a soft chuckle to herself, and mumbled something under her breath that Regina couldn't understand.

Just then the front door opened, and out stepped a woman about the same height as Regina with skin the color of cinnamon and eyes the color of amber. A soft back curl hang just a bit off center on her forehead, escaping from the rest of her hair, which was pulled back into a thick low ponytail. She wore a dress in an ochre shade that complemented her skin tone well, and had a starched white apron wrapped around her midsection. Deep dimples appeared on her face as a warm smile overtook it.

"I suppose you must be getting hungry, and thirsty too. I have just what you need."

And with that, the woman turned away, and sauntered cheerily back inside, leaving a bewildered Regina on her doorstep. She had a feeling that things were about to get a lot more interesting in Storybrooke for her.


	2. Deux

**Deux**

As Regina walked into the home, she became engulfed in a heavenly scent. The home was warmth with the smell of fresh dough and bread, mingled with the scent of spices and sugar. She couldn't identify everything she smelled, but she was surprised to find how suddenly ravenous she was. The house was neither home, nor business. Or, she could say it was both. As she passed through the foyer, she noticed on her left was what appeared to be a cozy drawing room with intricate crown molding on the ceiling and walls with pastoral wallpaper and mahogany lush furniture of a European style, and to her right was a sunroom decked with well-used wicker furniture. Moving further into the home, and closer to the luscious smells it was emanating, she found chairs and tables, an eclectic yet well appointment mix, dotting themselves throughout the house, until she entered a large room next to the staircase, three times the size of any other room in the home. It looked as though the formal dining room, private dining room, and small family room has been opened to make a distinguished restaurant space. As unusual as the setup may be, especially considering the plethora of little frog themed baubles dotted throughout the space, she found the wood accents and bright colors dotting the space pleasant. Adjacent to the dining areas was a door that lead to the kitchen, which Regina knew because of the long service window opened along the wall where she could see into the kitchen area and smell its creations. Finding herself alone in the space, she walked over to a two-seater table near the kitchen window, nestled underneath a birth window where she could feel the breeze blow through.

As soon as she settled down, the woman from before came through the kitchen door with a tray on her shoulder that carried a plate of something steaming, a glass contraption, and small white ceramic mug. The woman smiled brightly as she made her way over.

"It's been so long since I've had the pleasure of serving anyone, well, anything!" The woman smiled again then, a bit shyly, as she lowered the tray from her shoulder. She set the plate down first. "These here, are my famous beignets. Now, before you ask, beignets are a bit like donuts, only much better. And on top is a healthy dusting of powdered sugar."

Regina had to inelegantly snort at that. The donuts—no, beignets, as she called them—were almost completely buried under a mound of the "healthy dusting" of powdered sugar. She didn't know where the fried dough ended, and the mountain of sugar began.

"And this," the woman said as she placed the mug and glass contraption on the table, "is a traditional French-drip coffee. I use this for my also famous, Café Au Lait."

Staring at the contraption more, Regina noticed a certain sense to it. The glass container, shaped somewhat like a beaker, had a thin metal grate to support the beans and strain them. A steaming pot of hot water appeared in the woman's hands, though Regina swears it wasn't there before, and she slowly poured it over the beans, causing drops of dark liquid to seep through the bottom of the beaker, and trickle slowly into the porcelain mug underneath.

A soft clearing of a throat in front of her brought Regina from her observation and to the attention of the woman standing with an amused expression before her.

"As much of a difference as the French-drip method makes in the overall creation of an exceptional cup of coffee, I didn't choose it for the flavor." At this, Regina quirked an eyebrow; she continued on regardless. "I was hoping we could use this time to talk."

"Lead on," was all Regina said.

"Well, my name is Tiana—"

"Tiana, who?"

"Just Tiana will do." Regina narrowed her eyes at that, racking her brain for enemies named Tiana that she should be wary of. For her part, Tiana just seemed to calmly let the Queen ponder on that fact until she gave a slight nod to continue.

"I'm not exactly from here…"

"That wouldn't make you the first person dear."

"Well, I mean to say, I don't belong here. I was just a bystander in the curse. Hitchhiker, if you will."

This left Regina confused. A hitchhiker on her curse? Who would desire such a thing?

"You see, I was traveling with my husband on a diplomatic mission,"—Regina rolled her eyes at that, she supposed this Tiana was just another dutiful wife, forced to follow her husband like some subservient lapdog, "when I was injured along the way."

Mulling over this information, Regina zoned in on one part—"diplomatic mission." This woman had to be royalty.

"Excuse me—Tiana—but did you just say you were on a diplomatic errand? "

"Mission, actually," Tiana corrected, "and yes, I did."

"So wouldn't that make you royalty?" At this, Tiana remained quiet, averting her eyes. Mustering some of her queenly authority into her voice, Regina spoke again. "Stop dancing around the matter. _Who_ were you?"

Tiana finally looked back up and searched Regina's eyes. She seemed to be making a decision on something. Just when Regina was losing her patience, she started to speak up.

"Well, technically, I suppose you could say I'm a princess. But—" Regina didn't listen any further as she quickly rose from her chair and began to move away. She knew something had been fishy all along. She never trusted royalty—they had been hard enough to control as an Evil Queen with reputation, magic, and armed forces to quell their plotting and scheming, and here she was, magic-less and ally-less, lured into a place she had never encountered by the small combination of intrigue and smells. Fury began to boil in her gut. No way was the Queen about to let herself get killed over some simple donuts.

For her part Tiana remained silent and calm in her chair, watching the Queen with caution, but not panic, which only set Regina more on edge.

"Look. I understand you can't trust many right now, and certainly not someone who holds a royal title, but that's really not who I am. Honestly, I hardly consider myself royal, much less a princess. I married into all this, somewhat unwittingly if I may add. If I had to truly say who I was, it would be a businesswoman. And a chef. Someone whose dreams to have something of her own, something manifested from her passion, led her, rather surprisingly, to the roles she fills today."

At that, Regina paused. _A businesswoman, huh? Well at least she doesn't seem to be a mindless dolt who married into royalty for the pretty dresses and extravagant balls._ Thinking on that, she slowly began to sink back down into her seat. Apprehensively, for sure, but with returned willingness to listen.

"I—oh look! The coffee is done. I'll be right back with some steamed milk, and sugar, to prepare it for you," Tiana rushed out quickly before disappearing behind the door to the kitchen. Through the window she also yelled "And you should really try those beignets before they get too cold—I'd hate for you to start your day without something warming you up!"

Regina just looked shocked at the spot where the woman had been sitting a mere second ago. Regaining her composure, she looked down again at the plate below her. The fried and sugary snack looked like just thinking about eating it would clog an artery, but its smell caused a slight rumble to leak out from her stomach. She figured Tiana wouldn't be that foolish to poison her, at least not right now while that idiot Charming had placed a haphazard protection on her head, so she picked up a beignet from the plate and delicately tried take a bite of it.

As soon she bit in, she was assailed with the warm chewy-ness of the dough. The dough itself had a delicate sweetness to it, as though a trace of molasses was mixed in to the batter, with just a hint of nuttiness, like nutmeg. It was subtly sublime. And for all her complaining of the exorbitant amount of powdered sugar on top, she loved how it contrasted with the more savory flavor of the beignet dough. She just wished that it didn't seem to make its mission to get everywhere. As soon as she was done with her bite, she discovered it had gotten all over her face, was all over her hand, and astoundingly, had ended up on the end tendrils of her dark hair. Any efforts to clean herself up on made it worse, and lead to getting more of the powdery sugar onto her royal blue dress.

It was at this moment Tiana walked in with all the ingredients to fix the Café Au Lait, and she couldn't help but laugh at the sigh before her: the Madam Mayor covered in powdered sugar, and frantically trying to fix it. Tiana walked over to her, and handed her a couple of napkins, receiving a mumbled "Thanks" in reply.

Deciding not to embarrass her further, Tiana busied herself with focusing on fixing up the coffee as she continued her story.

"Like I was saying, I kind of just hitchhiked on your curse. Prince Naveen, my husband, and I, were on a diplomatic mission for his kingdom. As a result of marrying me, Naveen was a bit estranged from his family, and this was a chance to make it up to them." At this, Regina had to speak up.

"Estranged from his family? Why? And how?"

Tiana smiled sadly, before answering.

"Well you see,…I'm not royal. Far from it in fact. Like I said earlier, I married into it. Naveen was on a trip to my hometown of New Orleans—"

"New Orleans? Isn't that a city down south? Known for its music, and food, and general lawless mirth and debauchery?" At this, it was Tiana's time to roll her eyes at the Queen.

"You know, it's funny. I come from a different era of the city, a past version of its modern counterpart if you will, and yet, nothing has changed about the opinion of my home. Yes, those are things we are known for, and justly so—but we are more than just the things we produce. All of those things, and more, are special because of the people behind them. The heart put into them." Regina realized she had finally hit a nerve with Princess Tiana, but she wouldn't let her response affect her pride. She merely huffed, and indicated for her to go on.

"Anyway, Naveen was visiting my home on a trip around the world to…sow his wild oats, if you will. While he was there, his rakish ways got him involved with a man who was bad news—Doctor Facilier. Because of that, he was turned into a frog, and by attempting to help him, I was turned into a frog as well. We spent some time traveling the bayou together, befriending a crocodile, fireflies, and Mama Odie, the woman sitting on the porch out there, and in the process we fell in love, and it was that love, in turn, that saved us in the end."

 _God_ , Regina thought, _she might be worse than the two idiots. Befriending reptiles and bugs seemed a step below talking to birds, though being tuned into a frog was probably a step above the time Snow turned herself into a bug. Hmmmpfh. Guess they're even,_ though Regina had to admire just a tiny bit how resilient this Tiana seemed to be.

"Well that's all very interesting, but none of that explains why you're here. Or why _I'm_ here, for that matter."

"I thought you just might enjoy some context, since I wasn't in your storybook." At that, Regina narrowed her eyes again. How did she know about Henry's storybook? And was she smirking about the fact? Maybe she was lower than Snow White after all.

"Anyway, Naveen and I got married, and lived—I'll skip the happily ever after part, because obviously, that's not the case. It had always been my father and I's dream to open our own restaurant at home, and I had been saving for it for years, and after we got married, I was finally able to it."

"Let me guess, with your newfound wealth and status as royalty?"

Tiana let out a sharp huff of air. Her patience was starting to wear thin with the Queen's continued insults.

"No. With my own hard owned money. Naveen just gave me the final push I needed—as well as my first employee," Tiana smirked, and Regina gave a small nod of approval. So maybe the businesswoman talk wasn't all hot air.

"However, his parents didn't take too well to the news. You see, the reason for Naveen's world trip was to find a suitable woman to marry—one with sustainable money behind them. Though his kingdom wasn't poor, Naveen had been a reckless prince, doing whatever he pleased, so his parents cut him off. If he wanted money, he'd have to get it for himself."

"A title in exchange for money…" it was something Regina had seen happen many times back in the Enchanted Forest, and had read as much about such things happening in this world as well.

"Exactly. But, by marrying me, he hadn't fulfilled their wishes, and so their relationship deteriorated. It's hard to say exactly what passed between them, Naveen hasn't even told _me_ all the full details, but I do know they cut off almost all communication." Regina felt an unexpected wave of understanding and sorrow for the young woman's situation. She understood full well the undeserved pain simply falling in love could cause.

"Still, even with the pain of losing his family, Naveen and I had each other, and we made a home for ourselves as my business really took off. About a year later, however, we received a strange message from his Naveen's younger brother, Prince Ralphie, who had been chosen to take over the thrown as next in line. He said that their allies were in danger and needed help. They had apparently sent multiple people to their aid, but had failed every time. Their last mission had sent their royal cousins, twin brother and sister, only for them never to return. He was their last hope. We discussed it, and decided to leave immediately, entrusting my mother to look over the business. We went back to Mama Odie and asked for a way to travel realms, and she decided to come along, saying it had been some time since she'd 'been out.'"

With that, Tiana took a rest, and handed her the coffee.

"I hope you like it," she said smiling warmly. Much to her surprise, Regina found herself returning the smile. If it was anything like the beignets, she would probably find it really hard to go back to regular cups of coffee at Granny's every morning. Tiana continued.

"We spent weeks moving through the Enchanted Forest trying to find clues as to Naveen's cousins' whereabouts, as well as his kingdom's allies, but had no luck. One night, while we were camping, I was cooking a pot of my gumbo while Naveen played some jazz. I love to hear him make music while I cook. However, it seemed I wasn't the only one. The sound attracted some strange looking wolves, they were quite large in fact—"

"Direwolves probably," Regina cut in.

"Right…and so I panicked because I had never seen wolves so imposing, and I managed to spill the boiling gumbo all over my hands and forearms." Regina cringed at that. She had seen her fair share of kitchen accidents in the early days when she had to grow accustomed to life in Storybrooke, as well as learn how to cook for Henry, but something like that was truly painful.

"Naveen and Mama Odie and our Alligator—"

"Wait, you were traveling with an alligator?" Regina was baffled by her choice of company.

"Of course! He's one of our closest friends. His name is Louis," at that, Regina could only huff.

"Well, they were able to fend off the wolves, but I was too badly burned to move on. We decided it would be best if I stayed behind and took shelter somewhere to heal, and Mama Odie would stay behind and watch me." Tiana paused as her amber eyes grew red with unshed tears. Regina could tell where the story would be going from this point on.

"Mama Odie and I slowly traveled through the forest looking for shelter, until we came upon a dark castle."

Regina was surprised to hear this detail.

"We ran into some younger girls, scarcely teenagers really, on the outside of the palace walls. They turned out to be scullery maids and were searching for herbs and mushrooms for the kitchen. I stopped them from picking some potentially poisonous ingredients, and Mama Odie shared some knowledge for more uses for the stuff they collected, and in turn, they agreed to bring us with them to the kitchen."

 _If we were still in the enchanted forest, and I had known about this_ , Regina thought, _I wouldn't have hesitated to have those girls thrown in the dungeon for their treasonous acts_. Bringing strangers into her castle was utterly foolish and highly dangerous. Regardless, that was then, and this is now, and it would seem Tiana hadn't done anything to hurt her in the long run.

"We stayed at your castle for a few weeks as I healed. We were given lodging and food in return for knowledge about recipes from our land and medicinal uses of plants." Thinking back, Regina did slightly recall an unidentified robustness to her meals in her finals days before the dark curse. She supposed she should have put more thought into it at the time, but then again, her thoughts had been rather preoccupied with getting her final act of revenge on Snow.

"After a while I grew restless, both from worrying about the state of Naveen and our friends, and from not even being able to perform the simple task of cooking for myself—my one true passion. It was during this time that the curse was cast."

 _There it is_ , Regina thought. She braced herself for the onslaught of regret and anger she would surely face from the woman, but she was surprised when she merely just continued.

"I suppose I should've asked more questions about where I was, or whose home I was being harbored in in hindsight. I'm never that careless—that's much more of Naveen's thing. Of course I had heard of you and the things you'd done and could do, but I didn't dwell on them much. As far as I was concerned, your feud was hardly any of my business. But I had unwittingly put myself in the middle of it—pitched my tent in the middle of the storm. And so I came to be in Storybrooke, living under your curse for 28 years, ignorant of my past—until recently."

Regina waited for more, but Tiana didn't continue, so she spoke up.

"Well, I'm sorry you got caught up in stuff that didn't concern you, but I still don't know what this has to do with me.'

Tiana seemed to be pulled out of her thoughts, and aimed a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes at Regina. Regina noticed this was the first disingenuous smile she had received since meeting the woman that morning.

Just then a loud "thwack" of the front screen door closing could be heard as a rhythmic tapping made its way across the floors. Regina felt a slight bubble of panic rising in her throat as she thought it might be Mr. Gold, who had made a show recently of having her killed (which lead to their current predicament of one missing savior and one missing idiot stepdaughter), but found the anxiety dissipate upon seeing the old woman from outside slowly making her way to them.

"This is Mama Odie," Tiana indicated.

For her part, Mama Odie just cackled and said something in a language Regina didn't understand.

"What did she say," Regina asked.

"She said 'crazy as your mama' in Cajun French," Tiana chuckled, but Regina found it hardly funny at all. What did this "Mama Odie" know of her mother, and why would she mention her now. And if she did know of her mother, how dare she compare her to her!

Tiana saw Regina's anger rising, and moved in to the diffuse the situation.

"Don't mind her. There are a lot of things floating around in that head of hers, and rarely does whatever she let slip mean as it seems." Regina was still apprehensive about the woman's comment, but calmed down and let it go.

"You know, I think we've talked a lot today already. It's already 11am, and you've yet to make it to work." Regina gasped and looked down at her watch to see Tiana was indeed correct about the time. "We can finish this conversation tomorrow—over a fresh cup of coffee and hot plate of beignets."

"And what makes you think I'll be back tomorrow," Regina asked. Tiana responded with a twinkle in her eyes. "Because once you've had my beignets, you don't want anything else."

Regina scoffed at that, and collected her things, making her way to the doorway.

With her hand on the handle she yelled back into the house, "We'll see about that," and took off at a brisk pace to her office, the seeping chill outside the home already making her wish she was back inside wrapped in the warmth and smells of the home, and in the company of her curious new acquaintance.


	3. Trois

**Trois**

Breakfast passed. And then lunch. Heading into dinnertime, Tiana had started to underestimate Regina's words—and overestimate hers. So as 5:00 pm rolled around the next day, she found herself making the rue for a pot of that evening's gumbo. Just as she was adding more file, she heard the familiar tinkle of the front door's bells. She smiled softly to herself. _She sure took her time coming_ , she thought. _Then again, it IS Regina, a former [Evil] Queen, we're talking about here_.

The brisk clacking of heels stopped just behind her, as a svelte voice spoke up. "I just happened to be in the neighborhood—literally, I seemed to just suddenly appear here, so don't get cocky."

At that Tiana chuckled, continuing to face the pot and stirring. "Well, that doesn't surprise me."

A perfectly sculpted eyebrow rose in response. "Oh?"

"Well, that's kind of how this neighborhood works."

"Please do elaborate further, dear."

Tiana paused her stirring—giving the appearance of deep thought. "Sadly, I can only do that once I've explained more." An exasperated huff was her only reply.

Finally taking a break to acknowledge the woman intruding in her kitchen, she wiped her hands on the cut of cloth hanging from her apron, and turned to face Regina, large wooden spoon still in hand.

"Since you decided to grace me with your presence at such a late hour, I'll actually be needing to finish this gumbo before I can do anything else."

Regina just rolled her eyes. "Haven't you heard of walking and talking? It applies to almost any activity dear."

Tiana just smiled softly at that. "Be that as it may, this here gumbo is something special. Without proper attention, and the introduction of the tiniest mistake,…things won't be so pleasant for anyone who ingests it." That seemed to pique Regina's interest. "Actually Regina—"

"You know, I'm not really sure we're on first name basis; I don't even call Miss Swan by—"

"I need you to chop up some Holy Trinity."

"Did you just—wait, pardon me? Holy Trinity? What are you making over there? Is this a potion, because I assure you I do not take kindly to poison by food—that's kind of _my_ thing. I would've thought you had heard by now."

At that Tiana let out a full-bodied laugh. The rich sound seemed to expand throughout the kitchen, and the unadulterated warmth of it seemed to make even Regina smile a bit, though she was utterly baffled as to why.

"Oh trust me, I've heard. But no, despite the simple fact that I'm not a fan of harming others, I would never be so foolish as to try and poison you."

"Well that's about the only thing that makes sense so far."

"Anyway, here is some celery, green peppers, and onions."

Regina looked at the items in front of her like the two idiots had actually found some sense. "Fresh seasonings? What would I need these for? Didn't you mention something about a 'Holy Trinity?'"

Tiana chuckled. "Yeah, I did. There's your Holy Trinity. Celery, green peppers, and onions. The three items that makeup the staple of practically all Creole dishes, and something I need quite a bit of as the base of my soup."

Regina stood still and gave the vegetables pause, apprehensive about the plausibility of Tiana's statements. If she let herself think about it, it had been a while since she had done some semblance of real cooking—ever since losing practically all contact with Henry post-curse breaking, she had mostly been surviving on a mix of cider, wine, and sleeping pills. And a Lean Cuisine here and there. Okay, really just the cider and wine, and the pills, but she felt better knowing there was Lean Cuisine in the freezer if she ever felt there was a reason to eat again. After a few beats, she decided the best way to get Tiana to keep talking would be to help her in this task, and so the Mayor found herself rolling up her sleeves and setting to work on the fresh seasoning. _If anything, this sharp knife I've been provided with will protect me should things go South_ , she thought.

"So earlier, you mentioned that the…gumbo?-"

"That's right," Tiana responded.

"You're making could potentially hurt someone, should you mess up the recipe? Is this some sort of potion? Or curse?" Regina questioned.

Tiana chuckled in response.

"This, Your Majesty, is simply dinner." Regina didn't buy her explanation for second, especially since she had called her "Your Majesty" for the first time, but she would make sure to find out more later.

"Well then. Your, 'Holy Trinity,' is done." Tiana came over to where Regina was standing and inspected the chopped seasonings. Not too bad. She gave a soft grunt of approval, taking the cutting board with the seasonings on it, and dumping them into the steaming pot of brown liquid, stirring as she went along.

Regina's patience was wearing thin, but just as she was about to speak up, Tiana beat her to it.

"Now that _that's_ taken care of, we can continue our chat from yesterday while we wait for it to finish." She topped the pot off, and moved to remove her apron, before changing her mind and heading to a door leading to cold storage. Regina merely stood in the kitchen, puzzled over what to expect next. Tiana came back out a few minutes later with two bowls of what looked to be ice cream and some sort of brown sauce and exited through the kitchen door. With a huff of annoyance at not being told what was happening, Regina followed her out.

"I figured since dinner won't be ready for a while yet, and you've hardly taken care of meeting your dietary needs—" Regina scoffed at that, "we could unwind with a bit of a treat while we talk." She sat the bowl of ice cream and a spoon on a neatly folded napkin towards Regina on the other side of the table she seated herself at. "Here's my famous homemade creole cream cheese ice cream, with a praline sauce on top. I didn't know how much of the sauce you'd want, so please, help yourself to a portion that suits you."

Regina slowly sank down into the chair before her with a growing smirk. "For someone so concerned with my eating habits, it's curious you would offer a diabetic death trap as a peace offering."

Tiana smiled coyly. "Well, we both know you have no real cause for concern regarding your waistline," caused Regina to slightly sputter on her ice cream and look away with a slight blush.

They continued eating the ice cream silently for a few minutes; Tiana in deep thought, and Regina, trying desperately to not show both how ravenous she had been, and how delicious the ice cream truly was.

After almost five minutes had passed, Tiana suddenly spoke.

"You know, it was Naveen who first realized he loved me," she said quietly. Reverently. Regina had no idea where this thread emanated from, but found herself surprisingly curious to hear where it was going. "At the time, I was just so concerned with getting home, fixing things, being _human_ again, that I almost lost the love of my life-before I even _knew_ he was the love of my life. I was so stubborn sometimes. I didn't want to be what people only told me I could, I wanted to be what I knew I could be; reach the potential I knew I had. And Naveen not only loved me enough to encourage that I had it in me, but to put his love on the backburner so as not to distract me."

Regina understood the demands of what was expected of you, and what you actually wanted. In the silence that stretched after her admittance, she found herself thinking of her father, Henry Jr., whose gentle love for his daughter meant dealing with the abuses of her mother so that he could stay to protect her; even when all the protection he could afford her was reminding her how much he loved her. And Daniel. Her poor, sweet, doomed Daniel. Who loved her with the wanton abandon of his whole heart. Never afraid of where their love could take them. Content to be by her side through any and everything, desiring nothing in return. Even in his last moments, he only wanted her to be happy. Tears shown in Regina's eyes. Two men whose hearts had been sacrificed because of her. One inadvertently, and one by her own hands.

"I never looked for love. I never particularly wanted it. In the world I'm from, there are much more important things to worry about; and after my father died…I kept working, harder and harder. I couldn't stop. I had to reach our dreams to make it up to him, to never forget who he was and what he sacrificed for our family. And love, love could have ruined it all." Tiana sighed.

"But after Naveen started to pull away, I realized something about my father. He had worked so hard and tirelessly because he loved so much. He wanted to do his best for his family, his community, and that motivated him to keep going every day, even when it felt too much; even when he was exhausted. The biggest honor I could give my father was to find something, or someone, to love with all my heart—and I found it in Naveen. He was the thing that made the hard work worth it, and even more so, he was the person I wanted to share it all with. The struggle, with all its victories and setbacks." Tiana looked up from her ice cream, amber eyes piercing into mocha ones.

"I know you want to know why you're. And it may seem simple, but it's everything to me. I want to help you. I want to help us. For many, they have yet to even taste their happy ending, and may never experience it at all, but for you and I, we have both bathed in its bliss, only to have it violently ripped away. I want to help us all heal, and move on, get the happiness we deserve. And I need your help. But even more than that, I'd like to be your friend. I come from a different land. I may know your past but I did not live it in. I have no qualms against you. I understand what trust it takes to entrust half your heart into another, only to experience the crushing pain of losing half of yourself. But that doesn't define you—it only changes you. I want to show people that there is goodness to you, and help you rebuild your life."


	4. Quatre

**Quatre**

Regina was stunned. She certainly hadn't expected this confession when Tiana began to explain herself, and the pure surprise of it left her at a loss for words, which was admittedly a rarity for the Evil Queen. She could feel the sincerity radiating off the women before her, and as a response, a small part of her, a part that she often had to quell, started stirring within. She felt…surprise, relief, hope. And with that hope immediately came an anger. _How_ _ **dare**_ _this woman claim she wants to help me. She knows nothing about me, my past, what I've been through and what I've done. She understands my pain? Hmmph. She can't possibly_ _ **begin**_ _to know pain._

Tiana could read Regina's face and watched the flicker of emotions play out. She saw the shock, the surprise, the sudden glimpse of vulnerability and hope, and watch it leave as soon as it appeared as her face contorted with anger. She spoke up quickly to try and stop the direction of Regina's reaction.

"Look, Regina—"

"How _dare_ you 'Regina' me. You don't even know me. I am a queen, and as such you will only address me as 'Your Majesty.' You think you know me so well? You think I would be swept into your tale of love lost and suddenly want to befriend you? Well let me tell you something. I _delight_ in love lost. Why do you think I made this town? Why I came after Snow and her precious Charming? You speak of wanting to control your destiny, being more than who others want you to be and instead being the person you _yourself_ want to be? Well I have taken control of my own fate with my own bloodied hands. I have killed _far_ more significant people than you to get what I want, and all by myself. This town is the fruit of my work, and my work alone. No one can have a happy ending. No one deserves it. Your inclusion in this curse may have just been an accident, but as far as I'm concerned, I could care less what happens to you now that you are here."

With that, Regina abruptly removed herself from her chair, and briskly set out towards the exit. Tiana remained sitting at the table trying to process the explosion she just witnesses, before deciding to go after her. She started running through the house calling her name, until she felt a firm hand grasp her wrist. She abruptly stopped, and looked down to see Mama Odie at her side.

"Some people don't like hearin' what dey need. Give her some time." And with that, she turned back into the house, Juju trailing behind her.

Tiana remained standing in the doorway, watching the retreating form of the Mayor. When she could no longer see her, she sighed, and head back inside, gumbo long forgotten.

A week passed.

Regina tried to put the encounter out of her mind.

At first, once she had initially calmed down, it had been easy. When thinking of Tiana, and her strange plea, she scoffed at the notion that she had been desperate enough to call upon the Evil Queen as a potential ally, not to mention the audacity of offering to be a friend. As if she needed _that_. But as the days passed, she found herself unable to let it go.

On Friday, when she went to work at City Hall, she found herself distracted the entire time. A part of her couldn't let the woman and her tales go. There were questions she needed answered. Who was she, really? Was Tiana even really her name? And why couldn't she seem to remember ever being in that part of town when nothing changed in Storybrooke for 28 years. As she obsessed over the growing questions, she found herself in the Records Hall. She spent her lunch pouring over public records searching for mention of a Tiana, or Naveen, or even Mama Odie anywhere in the various consensuses or any other records, and when that yielded nothing, she scoured town maps to try and locate where that strange area could be hidden. She found nothing, and by the time her exhaustion caught up to her exasperation, she realized it was nearly eight at night and left for home.

The following two days proved especially challenging as it was the weekend. Ever since the curse broke, it had been dangerous for Regina to be out and about, especially alone and on the weekends. Without a clear start and end point to her venturing, she found it was best to avoid unnecessary time outside; she was begrudgingly allowed to resume business as usual as Mayor of Storybrooke, but any extra time spent out, and people started to get itchy about showing how much her presence wasn't welcomed. Regardless, she was Regina Mills, the Evil Queen, and she would not back down from a fight, nor let meager peasants bully her in her own town.

As she went about her errands this weekend, however, she found it that much harder to endure their stares, her guilt that much harder to cage. At home, it wasn't much better as her mansion was hollow and cold, empty without the warmth of her Little Prince. True, he had been cold since before Emma's arrival, but she had never been so completely…alone. Henry was everything to her, and now, he had traded her in the second he met his birth mother. Emma Swan. The Savior. The daughter of the two idiots. What couldn't they steal from her, besides her life? Snow wasn't content enough to take Daniel from her that she had to birth another being to steal her own son away.

Needless to say, Regina spent the weekend spiraling.

But come that next Monday, she put on her best face and geared up for another day versus Storybrooke. Luckily, the resident delinquents had just contented themselves with teepeeing her house, and so she could take the Benz to work. On the way, however, she got the strangest craving for something sweet, and made her way to Granny's for a morning pit stop, _which is what I should've done last Monday and I would've never met that strange woman_ , she thought.

When the door chimed, the few people in at that hour looked to see who had entered, only to scowl in disgust, or quickly look away in terror. _At least I haven't lost my touch_ , she thought. She made her way to the counter, which was unusual considering she typically took a booth in the back, but ever since she no longer shared her mornings with Henry, it had been too painful to sit there. Once seated, Ruby soon came over to her, cheery as ever. If there was one thing that both baffled and made the Mayor smile was the fact that she received the same cheerful service she received from Ruby during the curse even after it had broken.

"Good morning, Madam Mayor. What can I get ya?" Regina gave a slight smile before answering.

"I'll have a coffee and some assorted fruit." Ruby nodded and headed off to put in the order and help the other customers. Sitting there alone, Regina found herself uncommonly restless, and let her eyes wander around. She noticed a tray on the counter with an assortment of donuts and before she could stop herself, she found herself gravitating towards them. She hovered looking at all the shapes and colors, but none seemed to jump out. She craved…something. But, she couldn't place what it was. The taste of it was like a faint echo on her palate, and the desire to quench it steadily grew as she stared. Just as she started to pull the memory of what it was from the back of her mind, Ruby interrupted with a less than elegant throat clearing.

"If you get any closer Madam Mayor, I might just have to give you a bib."

Regina suddenly snapped out of the strange trance, pulling back from the donuts so quickly, she almost stumbled. _Almost_. Cheeks slightly turning pink, she composed herself to face Ruby who had a glint of amusement in her eye.

"I'll have you know Miss Lucas, I—" but whatever rebuttal Regina had on her lips died with the sound of the Diner's door chime ringing. Regina looked up to find David standing in the doorway with Henry close behind. Henry hadn't seen her yet and she watched with bated breath as Charming tensely stared at her. Soon Henry made it inside, and seeing his grandfather frozen on the spot, followed his gaze. As soon as his eyes set on his mother, he let out a simple "oh," and averted his gaze, making his way to a booth. _Their_ booth.

Regina remained standing frozen in place, staring at her son. He didn't even look back her, continuing to talk to Charming as though nothing happened while looking at his menu. She took a minute to gather herself, donut craving completely gone, and decided that she want to say something, anything to her son. She made her way over to their booth and cleared her throat. David looked up at her with a mixture of defensiveness and…sorrow. She put it out of her mind—she wasn't here for him, and focusing on the idiot would only make her lose her temper. She spoke.

"Henry?"

Silence.

"Henry. Please." With every second passing, Regina was losing her strength, her façade cracking. Her voice almost broke on the last word. "Please, Henry, look at me. I'm your mother."

With that, Henry put his menu down and looked up to Regina with hard eyes. "You're not my mother. You never were. Emma is my real mom. And as soon as she and Snow get back, we will be a real family, and I'll never have to see you again."

With that, he turned back to the menu and silently continued looking at all the same items that had been listed since before his birth. She was frozen, too afraid to move from fear her legs would give out from beneath her. The blow had been low, and with everything going on, it hurt more than usual. David continued to stare her, but this time she noticed it was with…pity. Looking around the diner, she noticed a couple of faces showing a mixture of secondhand embarrassment and pity. Her eyes ended on Ruby, her eyes bright with unshed tears, and that was the final straw.

With one last look at Henry, she briskly made her way towards the exit of the diner, poofing the money for her now cold coffee on the counter, and walked out without looking back.

/ SQ /

As soon as Regina made it into her car, she let out a long hard cry. She threw up a soundproofing and visual distorting spell over her car quickly, hoping no one witnessed the beginning of her meltdown, and continued to cry by herself, retreating into herself. It had been nearly two months since Snow and Emma disappeared, and hardly much longer than that since the curse broke, and yet things remained as stagnant between her and her son. _I thought eventually he would give in and come back to me. I gave him space. I haven't tried to forcibly take him again. But rather than warming back up to me, he's only grown colder._ She looked at herself in the rearview mirror. _The docks. I just, need to go to the docks and get some fresh air. Think this out. Make a plan. He is my son. He will always be a son. He just needs to remember that._

Regina put her car in reverse and began the drive to the docks. After driving for fifteen minutes however, she realized that what should been a five minute drive, was surely not that. Looking around, she realized the landscape was unfamiliar, and she was confused as to how she got where she was. The more she drove however, she realized there was, in fact, something familiar about the landscape outside her window. She had been here before…

Then it dawned on her—she was headed to the wretched yellow house and its inhabitant, Tiana. She was not in the mood for this right now, but, if she was making her way there, at least she could take her frustrations out on someone.

She pulled up to the house _, the only one on the block, if you could call this quasi-swamp a block,_ she noticed, and knocked on the door. A soft "I'm coming" was heard from inside, and some light shuffling could be heard until the door swung open. She was ready to let Tiana have it, until she realized she was nowhere in sight. Confused, she peeked inside, looking around, and moved to walk in, before hearing a loud hiss below. Looking down she noticed a large green snake staring at her with luminous pink eyes. She let out a small yelp and jumped back. It was then Tiana finally decided to make an appearance.

"Sorry about the shock, I hope Juju here didn't scare you too bad. My hands were a bit tied up and Mama Odie was having one of those moments when she pretends to be really blind, and so I sent Juju. Come on in." She moved aside and headed to the back of the house where the dining area was, Juju trailing lazily behind her, glancing back at Regina every so often. The intelligence and knowing behind his eyes unnerved Regina, but she entered the house head held high, closing the door behind her.

When she got to the back, she noticed a table in the corner where she had sat on her first visit had been set up, steaming beignets sitting on a tray with lots of napkins next to it.

"How did you—" Regina began.

"Oh, that? I knew you were coming, albeit, with some mighty short notice. I whipped them up since I had a feeling you'd want them."

Regina scoffed and found the whole situation entirely untrustworthy, but suddenly the craving from the diner earlier came back with a vengeance, and now in front of her mysterious source of the craving, she found herself nearly salivating over them. Her stomach gave a grumble of approval, which had Regina scrambling to cover it up.

As she sat down, she saw Tiana head over to her with another tray, except instead of carrying the various instruments used to make the extravagant French-drip coffee like last time, there was simply too whiskey glasses filled with amber liquid. Regina gave Tiana a puzzled look.

"Hot n' totties," she responded to the unspoken question. "I had a feeling we'd need something much stronger to drink than coffee this time around, and this was the perfect Southern remedy."

Regina eyed the glasses skeptically as Tiana sat them down, but after she watched Tiana take a sip of her own, she reluctantly took a sip of her own drink. It was spicy and warm and radiated throughout her. She found herself involuntary relaxing a bit and a slight smile made its way to her lips. She went in to take a bite of one of the beignets as well, grateful she had finally figured out the secret of eating them without getting powdered sugar everywhere.

Tiana watched Regina calmly, but warily. It was true she had known she was coming, but she hadn't known when until not thirty minutes before her arrival, which hardly gave her much time to think about what she was possibly going to say, as well as prepare refreshments. The emotional distress of the woman before her rolled off in waves, and she knew that this moment could make or break their future.

Regina took her time indulging herself in the simple bliss that was the beignets. She hadn't had a chance to eat her fruit, or drink her coffee for that matter at Granny's, and especially after her run-in with Henry, she was feeling quite drained. Not to mention she was gearing up to demand some answers from the suspicious woman in front of her. For her part though, Tiana seemed content enough for Regina to gather her wits and direct the conversation, the only slip that indicated her nervousness was the speed with which she was sipping her own Hot n' Totti.

"So…" Regina began," you know I have questions."

"And you're hoping I have answers," Tiana calmly replied.

"Well I want to make it clear now that I expect you to answer all of my questions truthfully, and if you don't, you'll finally get to experience just why they call me the 'Evil Queen' firsthand." Tiana didn't flinch at the threat, her amber eyes glowing with steely resolve. Though she wanted this conversation to have a positive conclusion, she knew that it was important to show some of her strength and determination if she ever wanted to gain respect with the woman before her.

"Let's start with the most pressing concern. What is this place? Why can't I find it on a map?"

Tiana let out a puff of air. She hadn't known where the Mayor would begin her interrogation, but she should've suspected her first response would be to question strange magic.

"It's my home," she replied.

Regina gave an Evil Queen quality stare, unamused with the vagueness of her response. "You must think me an idiot to accept that as your final answer. Now if you don't want your 'home' to be burnt down to cinders, I suggest you to tell me what I really want to know."

Tiana sighed before responding.

"This place…is my home." Regina moved to conjure a fireball. "But, you're right—it's more than that." Regina put out the fireball. "The house itself, is a replica of the home I built with Naveen in the Bayou. After we were human again, and after I made a successful career of my restaurant business, I felt a pressing…need, to be reconnected to the Bayou. Naveen as well. So we packed up our things and moved out the city to head back out to the country."

Regina took this in. While it explained the displaced architecture, it hardly explained the heavy magic surrounding the place.

"What else is this place? Why is the landscape different? And why does it not appear on any map or record in the whole history of Storybrooke?"

"Do you remember when I told you Naveen and I were turned into frogs?" Regina irritably nodded, _as if that was something you could forget about a person_. "Well, after we turned back human, things were normal, for a while. But then, strange things started happening to Naveen and I."

"What kind of strange things," Regina asked.

"Well, my restaurant got a marked increase in customers. It was already quite a popular destination in town, but over time people started exclaiming how my food could change them, change their life. Naveen started booking more gigs at different clubs around the city, and started gathering a following that proclaimed similar things. At first, we just thought it was nothing special, we had lucked out at becoming renown in our careers. But, people started getting obsessed. Hooked on us. People blackmailed and bribed to make reservations for my restaurant, fight broke out at the over-packed clubs Naveen was playing at. We started to fear for our safety."

Tiana paused and took a calming sip from her drink, thinking of those dangerous times.

"At some point we told Louis about our concerns—"

"The alligator?" Regina asked.

"Yea, that's him." Regina gave a scoff of disbelief, but Tiana continued unfazed.

"Well, we told him about our troubles, and he told Mama Odie, who told him to tell us that we needed to go see her. When we did she—well I'm not really sure what she did—but she determined that we now had magic."

Regina thought back to her own revelation of discovering she had magic—it is a harrowing moment, one where suddenly the whole world seems to be deposited at your feet, but without the know how to acquire it.

"She explained that the magic that was used to curse us was spirit magic. Since spirit magic was a magic that emanated outside of the self, anyone could potentially harness it, though some are more adept than others. When we were cursed, it was wielded by someone with dark intentions, and thus, it was dark magic. When we overcame the curse with True Love, however, the spirit magic surrounding us was converted into light magic. The spirits saw the potential for goodness in us, and bestowed each of us with gifts."

Though she hated the comparison Tiana and Naveen's story had with Snow and Charming, especially the whole "True Love" creating magic bit, she found the particulars of the magic origin interesting. She had never studied much spirit magic finding the spiritual conduits much to unruly and unpredictable to control, but the idea that a pure source of magic was devoid of morality but simply a slate waiting to be written on struck an unexpected cord.

"After that, Mama Odie suggested that for the time being, it would be best that we stay with close to her in the Bayou to learn more about our gifts and who we had become. So we built this house and made a new dream."

Though understanding the nature of the magic in this place, and knowing more of Tiana's backstory certainly helped shed some light on current matters, Regina didn't have nearly enough answers.

"That still doesn't explain what you're doing here though."

"The spirits, they can only be reached certain ways. In this world devoid of magic, it is practically impossible to access any magic, Storybrooke being an obvious exception. However, throughout this world's history, exceptions have been made through lay-lines—points in nature where magical energy converges to make magical events possible."

"And with magic returning to Storybrooke, it would've made the town a hotspot for magical connectivity," Regina thought aloud.

"Exactly," Tiana answered. "Back home, the bayou was our natural connection, but we—"

"We," Regina asked.

"Mama Odie and I," Tiana continued, "had to form a connection here as well. But magic works differently here. The only way we could make sufficient contact with the spirits was to create a sort of sub-reality, like a pocket dimension, within the town. It just so happened that we decorated it with a familiar setting, bringing a little bit of home into Storybrooke."

 _That would explain why the area was on no map_ , Regina thought.

"So how did I even end up here, three times I might add, when this place quite literally doesn't exist on…my 'plane'?"

"Honestly, the particulars remain a mystery to me. Mama Odie started creating this place while I was being discharged—"

"You were in the hospital," Regina asked confused.

"Yeah. Like I was saying the other day, when I was traveling through your land I was hurt, severely burned in fact. While I was at the castle I was still healing from it. I guess the curse brought anyone who needed medical attention to stay at the hospital, never getting better, and never getting worse. And since I wasn't known in your land, I was just another Jane Doe hoping she'd get better."

It was hardly new news to Regina by now that she hadn't fully understood the curse before she cast it, but every time she found out just how it manifested in this world, she was always taken aback by its cruel humor. This though, hovering between health and sickness for twenty eight years, with the exception of Charming however, was not a fate she could fully find it in herself to quantify. She took a sip of her own Hot N' Totti, using its liquid strength to throw-off any creeping bouts of guilt.

Tiana took in Regina's quiet turmoil with interest, but continued on. She would come back to that another time.

"Anyway, like I was saying," Regina refocused, "Mama Odie had practically done all the work to create this place by the time I arrived; I just gave some aesthetic touches. Her knowledge runs deeper than the oceans—she certainly isn't what she appears to be." Regina had no doubt about that. "But from what I do understand, this place it somewhat like a mirage. At the right time, with the right conditions, one can see it like a haze, beckoning to them. However, unlike a mirage, the closer you get, the more real it becomes. The transition is gradual, but before you even realize it, you're suddenly here."

"But why would one even be drawn to this place? Is it at random? But even that seems unlikely when I've been _drawn_ here three times. And you mentioned earlier that you had even anticipated me," Regina responded.

"All magic comes at a price."

"Tell me something I don't know," Regina muttered.

"Well each type of magic has a different type of debt collection. For example, your elemental magic borrows from the natural world, using you as a conduit to sustain it, thus, the price to pay for containing it is often personal."

Regina was surprised she hadn't thought of it like that, but carried on with the same air of authority as before.

"Spirit magic, however, is fundamentally outside of the self. It comes from forces that cannot be tamed or ruled, but rather one can be blessed by or bargained with. Either way spirits, benevolent, malevolent, or ambivalent expect homage in return for their aid and gifts. Since the nature of my magic is good, the spirits who aid me require acts of goodness as payment. This space we have created, draws in people who need the most help, so that they can receive the aid they need—whether they are ready and willing to accept it, or not."

At that, Regina perked up. _Am I to believe some nameless, faceless spirits have targeted me for some sort of cosmic charity case?_ If Regina thought her murderous intent had been piqued before, she suddenly had a dozen different ways she wanted to filet these spirit right now.

Tiana could tell the Mayor was none too pleased about the implications of what she had just revealed, but she knew it was best to let her know at least this much right now. Hiding the truth, or at least the major plot points of it never worked out in the end for anyone. Still, she felt it was best to give her a moment of privacy to take it all in, and excused herself to refill their drinks, this time with an extra shot of whiskey each.

When she returned, there seemed a cool acceptance about Regina. Tiana sat the newly refilled drinks down, and waited to hear Regina's thoughts on the new information.

"So, I've been… _summoned_ here by unknowable forces, for what? A chance at my own happy ending?"

Tiana let out a tentative nod.

"Well let me tell you something, and whatever spirits might be listening right now: I never have and never will need anyone or anything to help me get what I want. I have the power to take what I want and I do, and when I get my happy ending, it will be of my own accord." Venom dripped from every word as Regina had reverted to Evil Queen mode, and she made a move to leave, before being stopped in her tracks by Tiana's words.

"I know Henry doesn't consider you his mother anymore."

Regina turned around and made her way back to Tiana, invading her personal space, but she was unperturbed. In fact, her fiery personality had begun to ignite as well.

"You may put up these walls, _Regina_ , but I know the real you. I know how you drown yourself in town affairs to distract yourself from your own pain; how you carry the new edition of Henry's favorite X-men comic in your car each week, hoping you can give it to him in person; how you have to cry yourself to sleep every night if you don't just pass out from exhaustion or copious wine; and how, deep down, you hope Emma Swan never returns."

Regina stood extremely close to Tiana, face inches from each other, and Regina's eyes glowing purple with charged magic.

"I know," Tiana continued, "all the pain you have been through and continue to suffer from, and how tired you are. You are bursting at the seams, Regina, and if you don't get help now, there won't even be time for a happy ending at all."

Regina let out a long shuddering breath, and before she could register what was happening, she slid to the floor. Soon she started sobbing, quietly at first, appalled that she was unable to stop. The last thing she remembered was the gentle but strong arms of Tiana enclosing around her as the sound of her voice whispering soothing words led her into darkness.


	5. Cinq

**A/N: Just a reminder that this story is, in fact, an SQ one. That being said, the beginning is heavily Regina-centric as things get set-up a bit. She and Tiana [will] have a platonic relationship (though the more I write this the cuter I think they are), but that doesn't mean that a certain blonde has to know that…**

 **Oh, and please review! ^_^**

 **Cinq**

When Regina awoke, it was to the smell of something delicious cooking. Groggily opening her eyes, she first noticed how dark it was outside, panicking as she thought about how she never went in for work that day. Looking around she realized she had awoken in a strange room as well, and was about to go on a war path before she remembered all that had happened before.

Tiana. The house. Spirit Magic. Breaking down. _In public_.

She sighed, _well,_ _there's not much to do about that now_ , she thought.

She took the time to look around the room she was in a bit more. All the walls were covered in a forest green color, except the wall behind her bed's headboard, which was covered in a chintz wallpaper. Crisp white millwork ran throughout the room and the furniture was a hodgepodge of vintage pieces. Overall it had the air of a fine home that had happily been lived in—a sharp contrast to the impeccably designed but insufferably cold mansion she was used to. The only thing about the room that indicated something was off were the picture frames dotted around the room that were all empty. _I'll have to ask Tiana about that later_ , Regina thought.

She made her way out of the room into a dimly lit hallway, noting the many doors along it. The home hadn't looked so large on the outside, but considering it was almost entirely made of magic, this shouldn't surprise her. A large part of her, the part that screamed that nothing about this situation was okay, wanted her to go into those rooms and pry into the mysteries of her host, but another part of her, a part she was surprised had grown so influential in so little time, urged her not to mess this up, that maybe, just this once, she should let her walls come down and trust someone.

She found the stairs and tentatively made her way down, trying her best to look around the corner and anticipate what she could be walking into.

The first thing she glimpsed was a view into what she assumed was the drawing room, and spied Mama Odie rocking softly in a rocking chair with Juju curled-up at her feet. They both appeared to be resting, but something told her Mama Odie didn't actually need rest.

Turning right, she followed the smell of whatever creation Tiana was in the process of making, unable to stop her mouth from watering. She walked into the dining room and saw Tiana through the window, appearing to be singing something softly to herself as she methodically stirred the pot in front of her. Deciding to make her presence known since Tiana seemed so preoccupied, she gracefully cleared her throat. Tiana abruptly jumped, dropping her stirring spoon. Regina felt a bit bad about startling her so badly, but the way she saw it, they were a little bit closer to being even now, having both been caught unexpectedly.

"I thought you always know when I'm going to appear," she called out.

For her part, Tiana had composed herself, and betrayed nothing of her surprise when she responded, "that's not really how it works."

"Oh," Regina responded, lifting a single eyebrow, "then please enlighten me."

Tiana just sighed. "I will, but today, I think we've had enough talk of magic."

Regina just scoffed, agreeing to add this to the growing list of questions she would ask down the road. _Not that this means there's even a road with us, I mean, this woman is still a stranger. And I have no intention of ever considering her a confidant, let alone a friend,_ she thought to herself as she took a seat at random.

Tiana came out of the kitchen a moment later holding a tray of food. She started to sit down plates of something that smelled wonderful, never looking up at Regina, which immediately struck her as suspicious. As soon as Tiana turned to leave, Regina spoke up.

"Stop," she called out, and surprisingly, Tiana froze. Regina rose from the table, and made her way over to the other woman, whose back still faced her. Once she standing close, Tiana slowly turned around, and after a few beats followed by a calming breath, looked up. Her usually mirthful amber eyes were glassy with sorrow and puffy around the rims. Realizing that she must have been trying to hide the fact that had been crying, Regina quickly cleared her throat, at a loss for words for her reckless emotional blunder, and less than gracefully made her way back to her seat.

 _Great—she was trying to hide her pain and I impudently intruded on it,_ she thought. Still, a part of her wouldn't let her fully give into remorse. _Well if anything, this makes us that much more even in regards to my regrettable emotional lapse earlier today._

Sitting at the table, she easily tucked into the delicious food in front her; if there was anything she believed she had learnt at this point, it was that she could trust the food to be delicious—and not kill her. As she began eating, she casually tried to probe about what caused the abrupt change in Tiana.

"This is really quite good," she began. "What is it?"

Having been standing there staring, Tiana suddenly kicked back into action, and made the rounds around the dining room floor, tidying up various tables and adjusting this and that _. Curious, since I haven't seen anyone else here, outside of Mama Odie, since I've found myself brought here, but I guess being busy is her way of trying to avoid awkward situations,_ Regina thought. It made her think of a certain blonde, but she quickly dismissed it from her head, wholly uncomfortable with why she would have thought of the other mother of her child in this moment.

"It's crawfish étouffée," Tiana responded. "Over a bed of rice, naturally," she concluded.

"Naturally," Regina responded, bemused, deciding it was time to get to the heart of things. "So. Why were you crying," she asked, feigning indifference as she ate another forkful.

Tiana laughed a humorless laugh at that, knowing exactly what Regina was doing. "And why, _Your Majesty_ , might I ask you would care?"

Regina bristled a bit at the sarcastic use of her title, but continued calmly, "Well, you were the one who made this ridiculous offer of being friends, so I assumed this is what friends do, care about each other's feelings and…things." The effort of saying friends more than once left a bad taste her mouth, distorting her face in disgust, a reaction Tiana noticed and couldn't help snicker at.

"Alright. That's fair," she concluded. Regina was someone who liked all the cards stacked in her deck—there was no forming trust with her until she had put more of herself out there than Regina would. "I actually…was thinking of Naveen. And my mother. And my father. To say that I've come so far, done so much, and yet, none of the people I love are here with me to share it. I'm so far from home, and those I love. I guess, I was just feeling human. I felt…lonely."

Regina was taken aback at the forthright answer she received, thinking Tiana would deflect. She felt involuntary empathy for the woman, understanding exactly what that felt like, especially at the moment. But her own snarky style of defense got ahead of her.

"Well, if you were truly strong, you wouldn't need anyone else, let alone a man, to define you. Love is weakness. Strength is about doing things for yourself, by yourself."

Tiana stilled her fussing of the table she was at, and turned to look at Regina, livid at the accusation.

"I don't need a man to define me, but love isn't a dependency on another person which equates to weakness in their absence, but rather added strength knowing there is another person in the entire world, the entire universe, who could love you with all of their being. Knowing you have a friend, lover, confidant, cheerleader, all rolled into one. Someone always on your side who lets you know you are neve alone in anything you do." She gave a pause before a look of equal pity and anger shone in her eyes. "But I guess the _Evil Queen_ wouldn't have any recent experiences of what it means to be loved to understand."

Regina nearly choked on her food, startled by the insult. Her eyes flashed purple when she looked up, only to see Tiana nowhere in sight. In the background, she heard the faint sound of what appeared to be a boisterous laugh and a low hiss. Tiana soon returned, she had gone to the kitchen apparently, and sat down opposite Regina with a plate of her own, and began eating with a marked defiance in her posture. _Perhaps I've pushed her too far_ , Regina thought. _But it's what she deserves, giving me half-truths,_ another part of her countered. Still, she couldn't deny the mounting guilt she felt over pushing the other woman, especially since she had yet done nothing to exploit the fact that she had seen the Mayor break down in front of her earlier that day.

So they spent the rest of dinner in silence, both contemplative, but neither apologizing nor trying to excuse what had passed.

/ SQ /

Once they had finished eating, Tiana wordlessly grabbed their plates and brought them to kitchen, while Regina remained sitting at the table, hands in her lap trying to the think her way out of the awkward situation. When Tiana came back with two cups of coffee, the regular kind this time, she finally spoke up.

"So what now," she asked.

Tiana met Regina's eyes, "what do _you_ want, Regina?"

Regina scoffed, "Things have apparently never been up to me up to this point—why should I expect that to be the case now?"

Tiana seemed exhausted at hearing that, but plowed on. "The spirits, they may guide people here, but everything that happens after that point is up to them. Up to you."

This gives Regina pause. She had been manipulated so many times throughout her life, by her mother, by Rumpelstiltskin, by Leopold, and now, by her own son, who used her eagerness to be let back into his trust to force her to find a way to bring Emma and Snow back—she just couldn't allow herself to trust something like this. Even if maybe, possibly, she wanted to.

Tiana saw the battle raging in Regina and spoke up.

"I know what I'm asking here, is a lot. I know it's hard for you trust people, let alone someone whose residence resides in a pocket reality," Regina scoffed at that, "but the truth is, I want this just as much as you. I have no one here, outside of Mama Odie, and I could really use a friend. Like I said before, I may know your past, but I didn't live it—and even if I had, dealing with spirits teaches you a lot about how evil can be cultivated rather than just born. You have just as much potential for good in you, Regina, and that means you have the right to explore it. The right to be given a chance at happiness. You deserve it. And you don't have to be alone in that."

Regina couldn't help the tears that rose unbidden to her eyes, though she refused to let them fall. _I will_ _ **not**_ _cry twice in front of a near stranger today_ , she thought.

Accepting Tiana's words as true, she finally caved, and with an uncommon fragility, softly responded to Tiana. "You, _really_ mean it. That, you would want to be," she paused, unbelieving of the word she was about to utter, "'friends?'"

Tiana laughed at that, relief spreading throughout her as the twinkle returned to her eye. "Yes. I really do."

Regina took that in, and found herself allowing a small smile to form on her face, but not before adding her own quip.

"Well, you know, I'm pretty sure friends don't lure friends into pocket dimensions created by nameless spirits," Tiana rolled her eyes, "but I guess that's kind of…sweet," Regina concluded with a chuckle.

"Touché," Tiana responded, and Regina finally let out a brilliant smile.

They spent the rest of the evening enjoying their coffee, making small talk here and there, and taking comfort in the fact that maybe they both wouldn't be as alone as they had thought they were before.


	6. Six

**Six**

Over the next week, Regina found herself at the magic yellow house more and more. Thought she still refused to call Tiana a friend exactly, bonding with her throughout the week made it impossible for her to pretend she wasn't fond of her, and vice versa, though Tiana wasn't one to hide enjoying the company. She was even growing used to Mama Odie and her strange reptilian pet, though she still didn't trust the creature.

A week after their breakthrough, Regina found herself heading to Tiana's home, no longer pulled there, but able to arrive simply by seeking and finding it at the drop of a hat. She often found herself heading there in the evening time after work, when the stress of a day in town had gotten to her, and the oppressive loneliness of her home was the furthest thing from a respite. When she arrived, Tiana would have something sweet, or if it had been a particularly long day, a hard drink, prepared for her upon arrival, and they would talk or not talk, testing the limitations of what this tentative relationship was that was growing between them. Each was content for the moment to know that the silence didn't bother each other and had grown comfortable unwinding outside of public eye. It was all rather domestic.

This day however, she walked into the house to the sound of the sweetest music she'd heard in a long while. Moving deeper into the house, Regina assumed Tiana had music playing, though she had never noticed a music system before. As she made her way to the back of the house by the restaurant space and kitchen, she was shocked to realize that the voice she heard was, in fact, Tiana herself.

"Did the world get a little bit colder

Not wiser, just a little bit older

So slow that we're bound to fall over, oh.

Did the heart grow a little bit harder,

Too much, too late, too far, too gone.

But wasn't it kind of wonderful?

Wasn't it kind of wonderful, baby?

Wasn't it kind of wonderful, baby?

Wasn't it kind of wonderful, wonderful," she sang, swaying her hips.

Regina was stunned at the richness of her voice, and much to her surprise, found herself hypnotized at the slight sway of Tiana's hips. _Gods, Regina, pull it together_ , she scolded herself, as she tried to calm the pinking of her cheeks. Wanting to pull herself out of the slight trance, and make Tiana aware of her presence, she muffled cough to announce her presence. For her part, Tiana held her surprise quite regally and ended her solo karaoke rather abruptly. She smiled at Regina with a coquettishly.

"Please tell me you didn't see all of that," she asked softly.

Regina let out a light chuckle. "Only the entire verse, dear." Tiana laughed along with her.

"Well, dinner's ready, I'll come join you in a moment." Regina just gave a slight nod in acknowledgement, and made her way to what was quickly becoming "their" spot. Not long after so got herself settled, Tiana came back in with a tray of what Regina could only assume was one of her many delicious dishes.

She was surprised to find however that instead of some elaborate dishes, an assortment of sandwiches were on display. Regina has never been much of a sandwich person herself, and well, with the extravagant nature of the meals Tiana typically provided, she was a bit baffled of the arrangement in front of her. She _was_ a [former] Queen, after all.

Tiana noticed the confusion, and even a bit of the arrogant disgust in the half formed sneer she noticed forming on her companion's face, but she brushed it off, suddenly remembering she forgot a crucial element.

"I'll be right back," she exclaimed, and headed back to cold storage.

She returned with two chilled bottles of Blue Moon and a bottle opener—if she was going to have Regina going "low-brow" for this next meal, she might as well go all the way. Popping open the bottles and admiring the chill that curled out of them, she handed a bottle to a deeply confused and slightly appalled Regina, before cheekily exclaiming "Bon Apétit."

Whilst Tiana made a move to happily tuck into the food, Regina remained as frozen as she had been since the food was place before her. Suddenly finding her voice, she looked at Tiana her chin held high, regality shining forth.

"And you honestly expect me to eat…this?" warily eyeing the sandwiches. "This looks like the food of peasants."

At that Tiana gave an exasperated sigh, though her amusement was evident in her eyes. "Well in this case, you'd be absolutely right," promptly taking a swig from her beer.

Regina scoffed at that, both astounded at her suspicions being accurate, as well as somewhat impressed at Tiana's own boldness on the matter.

"And why, might I ask, would you think a Queen would be fit to eat something I would hardly even pack for my son's lunch, let alone indulge in myself?"

Tiana stopped eating for a bit, and fixed Regina with one of her stares that rarely came about—one that reminded Regina that for all their, thus far, amicable sharing and company, there was some bigger force, some unspoken intention, motivating the nature of things. Regina always found these stares both captivating, and completely unsettling. Tiana just responded with a completely neutral voice, so unlike her natural expressive self, "Because sometimes we need to start with simplicity before we can appreciate complexities." The statement left Regina slightly chilled, she had a feeling today would be more than just one of their pleasant afternoons.

The moment of otherworldly-ness passed from Tiana however, and she continued with her usual chipper self. "These are not your average sandwiches. These are poboys, originally known as "poor boys." Their namesake is indicative of what they are. Working and lower class people would get these cheap sandwiches with lunch or dinner to fill them up. Simple and tasty. But poboys are much more than that. They were a break from reality—a moment when while enjoying a simple but delicious meal you could relax with fellow people, share your thoughts and feelings, and have a good time—and forget for a moment the crappy job you had to return to, or the stressers in your life. Just simply step back from life and get to something easier. Good food and good company. A respite. A break."

Here Tiana looked pointedly at Regina, her eyes flashing a thousand emotions, but the main thing that shone through was warm support and…trust. Clearly this was about so much more, and Regina realized that while Tiana had shown so much of herself and revealed various information, intimate and light-hearted, to her over the past week, she had scarcely revealed much about herself. She knew if she really wanted to take this friendship places, she had to learn to trust Tiana more, start lowering her walls a bit, but she wasn't ready. _This is too soon, too fast. I mean for godsake, I've barely known the woman for more than two weeks and now she expects me to bear my soul_ , she thought to herself. So she moved the conversation to something she thought might be a tad safer.

"I've been meaning to ask this since the day I had my regrettable…emotional lapse, but why are all the picture frames empty here?"

Tiana let out a soft sigh of disappointment. She had really hoped the lead in would prompt Regina to open up, and whilst she saw the internal conflict play out across Regina's features, she wasn't entirely surprised Regina chose deflection as her response.

"Magic, is the short answer. Or rather, it's shortcomings."

Regina couldn't help the rising of bitter amusement at those words. "Yes, there seems to be a lot of those, don't they?"

Tiana gave her a look of complete, annoyed, agreeance. "Well, as I've explained to you before, the nature of this place is rather…unique. We're in between the spirit realm, and our realm. As such, there's a bit of give and take between the too. And one of the things that's taken is emotional attachments."

Regina perked up at hearing this.

"Unlike your magic, fueled by emotion, my magic is fueled in the absence of it, it is fueled with intent. Like I've said before, spirits themselves are at their core, neutral. Sure, there are some spirits who are known more for "bad" acts or "good" acts, but unlike humans, fueled by their own ambition that either leads them to good or bad acts, spirits inherently have no capacity for ambition, and thus follow what is simply in their nature. Still, when a spirit becomes mixed with a human, it feeds on their motivators in orders to guide its assistance." Regina nodded her understanding at the slight recap.

"Well, all magic has a price. And with spirit magic, sometimes you have to pay it twice." Regina gasped at this, she certainly hadn't expected that. "Like I've said before, by Naveen and I aiding humans, or other creatures in general, with our gifts, we pay tribute to the spirits who imbued us with them. But that is simply paying the price of the spirit's assistance itself. We still must pay the price of magic, which is the price it takes to direct the spirits' motivation. In order to get them to focus on the task we need fulfilled, we must balance our emotion—become neutral ourselves, and let them take on more emotional excess. Single-minded emotion for direction."

Regina made Tiana pause at this.

"Neutral? Like, emotionless? Well dear, I hate to inform you, but over the last two weeks we've known each other, you haven't exactly been perfectly temperate." Tiana rolled her eyes in response.

"Well, I'm still human. I'm not meant to be some, mindless thing void of emotion—I simply must balance myself. Center myself. Find equilibrium. I can laugh, cry, be angry, anything. I can live the spectrum of emotion, but I must not give into it, I must balance myself. That was what undid Dr. Facilier. He wanted the spirits he served to become consumed with his greed and lust, but he could not also balance his own greed and lust within himself." Regina nodded thoughtfully. _I can understand the difficulty of managing, let alone avoid succumbing, to my own greed and darker desires_.

"So you have to find your 'Zen' in order to get these cretins to do your bidding. What does this have to do with your empty pictures?"

"Like I said when we first met, my desire here is to give everyone their happy ending, because that is what I want as well—"

"Sounds completely selfless, dear," Regina snarked. She received an irritated glare in return which only widened her smirk.

"In order to achieve such a huge task, I have to do a much more monumental job to keep myself centered. And with Naveen gone…well, let's just say keeping myself grounded is much easier without constant reminders." The last part was spoken so softly that Regina found herself leaning in to catch all of what she said.

Amber eyes were downcast in front her, staring at hands fidgeting in her lap. Regina thought back to her entry earlier that day, finding Tiana standing alone in the kitchen, singing a song so sweet and heartbroken. The longing of the lyrics, the yearning and desperation of her strong voice. She thought back even further to another meal when she had arrived to the house and found Tiana sitting in a rocking chair, holding a ukulele and staring into space. When she had asked what was wrong, which was no small task for a [forming] Evil Queen, Tiana had seemed to snap out of it and laughed it off, heading swiftly to the kitchen to gather the precursors to that evening's meal. _She's been suffering more than I thought. Not only does she have to fix everything while trying to mourn her love, but she's not even allowed to properly mourn him. She has to pretend, well, not even pretend, but_ _ **convince**_ _herself and everyone else that everything is okay, while on the inside she's breaking apart and_ —Regina had to gasp with the force her epiphany. Suddenly, she saw it so clearly. Why something within her, despite her own desire, had called out to her, had connected with Tiana over these last few days. Maybe, even why they'd been brought together in the first place. She knew exactly what it felt like to be Tiana right now. And with that realization, she felt the first wall she'd built around her heart start to crumble.

Coming out of her reverie, she looked back up to Tiana, whose gaze still rested on her wrestling hands in her lap. Regina's voice, much huskier with emotion than either anticipated, startled her back to attention.

"When I was younger, still a girl really, I fell in love with a stable boy." A pregnant silence followed that statement. Tiana looked up and searched the mocha eyes before her. Regina gave a tentative smile in return, one that told Tiana she had never spoken these words aloud to anyone else before, but that finally, she thought she had found someone she could trust enough to tell. Tiana gave a small nod in return to continue.

"Daniel. His name was Daniel."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! Sorry it's been a while. I've got a couple chapters in the works, so updating won't be nearly almost a year in between. The song featured in this chapter is "Wonderful" by Lianne La Havas. Please feel free to review!**


	7. Sept

**Sept**

 _"Daniel. His name was Daniel."_

* * *

"My mother hired him around my 15th birthday, as my father had gotten me a new steed, Rocinante. 'If you insist that she continue these childish pursuits Henry, then she will learn how to ride like a proper lady, not like some foolish peasant boy,' my Mother had said. Always so thoughtful." Thick resentment clouded Regina's voice with those words, but she seemed to pull herself out of it enough to continue her story.

"So, suddenly we had a new stable boy, and I was not pleased. At. All." This news surprised Tiana and she couldn't hid the small shock that shone on her face. Regina noticed, and matched it with a small smirk of amusement, before continuing. "I had enough of Mother's demands and rules in the rest of my life, I didn't need it intruding into the one space of my own where I finally felt free, even if it was fleeting. Especially if it came in the form of some boy, barely older than me. And I was already a fair rider. Great even. If Mother had let me compete, I would have no doubt been ranked in the top five of the land. So, as a result, I was quite sour with our new arrangement." Regina lightly chuckled.

"Those first three months Daniel was with us, I gave him hell. Whenever he told me to do something, I did the exact opposite. I rode too fast. I took the dangerous paths in the woods. I stayed out too late. Any little thing to assert myself and regain my independence. Well, one day, I pushed too far and got myself hurt. Nothing too serious—I cut my arm on a branch while riding too fast in the forest. He was livid. I had never seen him so impassioned. Mind you, Daniel was no pushover. Whenever I pushed, he found a way to push back—it's probably what kept our little power game going so long. But I had never seen him so angry…or so, concerned. And for me." Regina gave a small sigh. Her eyes were misted over, lost in space. Tiana smiled softly in response. "He made a salve for the wound, and applied to my arm. It was so tender. I had never been handled with such reverence before. Certainly not by my Mother, and not by Daddy since I was little. The rebellious side of me was so affronted, how dare he touch me so intimately, but, the true me knew it was all hot air. I was so caught off guard, exposed, overwhelmed. I didn't know what to think." She took a breath.

"After that, things definitely changed between us. I started listening more when he instructed me do things. He, in turned, started to open up more to me. He told me about the world beyond my estate, tales of heroes and villains, and tales of ordinary people. Those were my favorite. He told me of his own past. How his parents has been killed when he was young. That he had a brother, but that they had been separated, and he'd pretty much been alone ever since. He was generally a happy guy, but I realized so much of it was a front. He had pain too. But he was doing so much to move past it, to find his own happiness. I grew to admire him for that. If only I could do the same. Escape with Daddy and be a simple girl. Be happy."

"One ordinary day, we stood in the stables, him brushing his favorite mare, Electra, and me brushing my Rocinante. I happened to look over at him, for what, I'm not sure. And I found myself staring in awe. The way his hand moved the brush so tenderly over Electra. The absolute look of concentration and devoted adoration on his face. This was more than simply taking care of a horse. And I understood. In that moment, surrounded by hay and horse crap, was the moment I realized that I had fallen in love with him.

"After that moment, things changed again between us. They didn't revert back to the way they were before, but I did grow more distant. Things grew more strained once again between us. I didn't know how to act anymore, how to feel. Before we could argue or laugh or be silent and everything was fine. I was content. Happy even. But now, every time we were alone together, I got anxious, nervous, and it made my emotions all over the place. I often disguised my conflicted emotions as anger, and frequently stormed off. One day he had enough of this, and after some stupid tantrum, he followed me, only to discover me crying by the side of a tree. He was taken aback I could tell. He might've seen me display every single emotion, but he had never seen me cry. He approached me, creeping closer like you would a scared animal, and when he got close enough, he pulled me into his arms. It…I had never felt something like it before. It reminded me of months before, when he has put the salve on my arm, the tenderness and intimacy of it all. The blatant care. But this, was also so much more. His strong arms made me feel safe. Like something to be held onto and protected. I remember inhaling him as I rested my head on his chest. He smelled like horse, and sweat, and sweet hay." Regina smiled a brilliant, soft smile.

"He smelled perfect. It felt like years passed in his arms before I looked up. He took a beat, noticing the shift, and then looked down. His big blue eyes stared into mine and I could see it there. The care. The concern. And something else. Something I had never seen before. Love." Tiana wasn't sure if she realized it herself, but Regina had begun to softly cry.

"He leaned down, ever so gentle, and brought his lips to mine. It was so soft. So impossibly soft. And fleeting. It couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds, but it felt like it lasted for years. And it ignited something within me. I felt something stir and stretch and sing out from within my chest, and the warmth of it spread from my center, all the way to my fingers and toes. In its afterglow remained a tingle, a promise that this feeling was here to stay. And when I looked into his eyes again, I saw that he had felt it too." She cleared her throat, and Tiana found her hand making its way into Regina's. She startled at the contact, both having forgotten where she was and who she was with, but she was even more surprised that instead of familiar anger rising at the unwarranted touch, gratitude could only be found in its place. She gave a small nod of appreciation in return, and continued.

"After that, things were great…for a time. Everything had changed. We were linked. Everything I felt was known to him, and vice versa. I shared my dreams, hopes, and aspirations. He knew my deepest fears and concerns as well. We would ride for hours challenging each other. Sometimes he would even surprise me with little gifts, and I would show him my favorite hidden spots in the woods and we would have picnics and stay there talking, or we'd find a meadow and just lay there. Comfortable in each other's presence.

"Somehow, the first time he told me he loved me still came as a surprise. It was just after my 16th birthday, and I had done something or other to upset Mother, which had resulted in her…physical method of discipline. I ran away to the stables afterward to seek Daniel out for comfort. It had been happening more frequently at that point—Mother's anger and lashing out at me. I had a feeling something was coming, but when I was with Daniel, he made me forget. He would hold me, hurt for and with me in silence, and remind me how much he cared. That I was no longer alone. But this night, when I came, he saw the red marks on my arms and around my neck, and something snapped in him. He was livid, and paced around the stables fuming. He said he was tired of seeing me hurt by the same person who was meant to protect me, that he couldn't letting this happen, not to the woman he loved. Everything stopped when he uttered that sentence. He stopped pacing abruptly and turned slowly to me. Once his eyes finally found mind I was surprised to see fear there. He was scared of rejection, that I wouldn't feel the same way. I made way over to him and held his cheek, and told him…that I loved him too.

"After that, things once again changed for the worse, and pretty rapidly. A week later Mother announced we were to start visiting other Lords and Ladies; I was a proper woman now and I needed to find a potential suitor. I saw less and less of Daniel, but I still loved him with all my heart. Whenever we were able to be together, we made the best of our time. We talked about running away, but we never thought it would happen.

"During one of these trips to a nobleman's estate, I managed to convince my Mother to let me go for a ride, or so I thought. While riding however, a young girl lost control of her horse, and I chased her down. The girl turned out to be Snow White, the precious daughter of King Leopold, and heir to the White Throne. At the time she seemed…innocent enough, and I told her not to worry about the incident, and thought nothing of it. How naïve I was.

"Not two weeks later, my mother received a letter from the Crown requesting we make an appearance at court. At the time, I was excited. I had never been to the Capital City, nor visited the Royal Palace. We packed for three weeks, including travel and our stay. Leaving Daniel, it had never been so hard. We had never been apart so long. But I promised him I would think of him every single day and bring him a present.

"When we got to the city we headed straight to the palace where we were informed guest chambers had been made for us. I certainly had not been expected to be housed by the King himself. Snow found me, and immediately attached herself to my hip for the duration of our stay. Everywhere I went, so did she. Everything I did, so did she. At first, I found it somewhat endearing—I had always wanted a sister, but I quickly tired of her constant presence. And I missed Daniel terribly. On the day before we were meant to leave, my mother was invited to a private audience with the King. And the next day we left without much fanfare, though Snow did cry at our departure.

"Life returned much to normal when we got back to our estate. Better even, since suddenly, we stopped going to this or that Lord's estate every weekend. Daniel and I got to spend more time together than ever before. But still I couldn't shake the feeling that something was coming. The beginning of the end. Then one day Daddy came to fetch me from the stables early. Daniel and I had only been sitting on some hay in silence, shoulders barely touching, but somehow Daddy knew. I had been expecting some kind of reprimand, but instead, all I saw was an immense sadness in his eyes. He told me my Mother had something she wished to speak with me about and left. When I made my way back to the manor house, I found Mother in the drawing room, a cold smile displayed on her voice. That horrible feeling I had had for weeks came back with a vengeance. Somehow, I knew this was it, the moment when the other shoe was going to drop. And it did. Mother told me, with a cold imitation of joy, that I was to be wed to the King.

"It's like the wind left my lungs when she announced it. My first reaction was anger. I decided to fight back, and yelled that I was only 16, I wasn't old enough to be a wife and a mother—a _Queen_. I told her she was no better than a pimp whoring out her daughter. She slapped me, hard enough to draw blood. My mother rarely punished to the point of soiling me physically, but when she did, I knew I was really in trouble. When I looked into her eyes, cold fury resided there, but only sweet words tumbled from her lips. 'I'm doing this for you dear, because I love you and I only want the best for you, Regina.'" At this, Regina took a large breath, collecting herself from the well of memory she had tumbled into.

"After that, my mother started to become extra careful of my activities, making sure I wouldn't do anything rash to jeopardize her dream power play. We spent the next couple of months constantly going back and forth between the estate and the palace, where I was learning to play stepmom to precious Snow White and obedient attendee to the King. I was conflicted. I didn't want to let them down, they hadn't been anything but kind to me thus far, but I couldn't see a life with them. I only wanted to be with Daniel.

"One trip to the palace, I was able to convince my mother to let me bring Daniel with us on grounds of not trusting Rocinante with the palace stable hands. When we were alone our first night, I finally told him of my mother's plans for me. He was furious. He couldn't believe she could care so little for my happiness, even though he had had over a year to witness exactly how true that was. Then, on a stretch of inspiration he asked me to run away with him. I couldn't believe it at first. Would he really want to do such a thing? For me? With me? But when I looked into his eyes, I couldn't believe I even doubted his sincerity. I said yes, suddenly filled with blinding hope that my problems had been solved. And when we embraced, for the moment, it felt that was true, until we pulled apart and I discovered Snow White standing there, staring at us.

"I panicked, afraid of all she had seen and heard, and begged her, _begged_ her, to not say a word of what she had witnessed. And when she agreed I actually thought it was going to be okay, that we would actually get to be together. How wrong I was…" Regina trailed off and looked far-off. Tiana knew what came next, but she knew she needed to get Regina to finish it, to say it all aloud. She squeezed her hand to get her attention again.

"And what happened next?"

Regina looked at her then, at their hands still joined, and removed hers abruptly, sudden fury contorting her face. "Well what do you think, dear? The spirits told you all about me, didn't they?," she spat out. Tiana simply looked back at her, not taking the bait to get a rise out of her. When Regina realized she couldn't get Tiana to react, she sighed before continuing on.

"Snow White proved herself as an insolent, selfish, traitorous little brat, is what happened. On the night Daniel and I were to meet, Mother showed up. I was terrified. We were both terrified. I pleaded with her to let us leave, that I loved Daniel, and that we just wanted to be happy. And I was surprised to find that she acquiesced. She even wished us well, and even wanted to give her blessings to Daniel. I was so completely shocked and, Gods, _relieved_ , that I didn't even question her motives. I encouraged Daniel to receive his blessing, and he…he walked over to her with a smile on his face. And then, in front of my very eyes, she plunged her hand deep within Daniel's chest. She waited until I connected my eyes with hers and smiled her twisted, satisfied little smile. And that's when I knew, there was no way to escape to this. I was about to lose the love of my life. My precious Daniel. I looked to him, into his big blue eyes one last time—and what he saw in my eyes let him know this would be his last time as well. With so much love in his eyes that it hurt, he whispered his last words, though it sounded like a shout in the dead of the night…'to find love again.' And with that, he was gone. I could only watch his body fall to the ground, stunned and confused until I looked to my Mother, the crumbled remains of my love's heart seeping through her clenched fingers. I ran to his body belatedly, and kissed him, again and again until my lips were bruised as though my love could drag him back from the cold clutches of death. Love was the strongest magic of all, so they say, so it had to work. I only stopped my attempts when my senses finally registered the cold, cruel laughter of my mother standing above. 'Oh Regina, he's gone. This silly affair with a stable boy was simply a distraction, and now that I've taken care of it, we can get back to what's important. I expect you for breakfast with the King at 7am sharp, and for you to have dried your tears.' She leant in closer and whispered with cruel finality, 'And if I find you mourning or crying out for this peasant ever again, I will see to it that you are thoroughly punished,' after which she disappeared in a cloud of smoke."

Silence, glaringly loud, resounded throughout the entirety of the house. Tiana absorbed the words that Regina had recited in a near whisper at the end, pain, anger, loss, and resentment warring in her voice. _She probably doesn't even realize it, but her hands have been clenching and unclenching for some time now_ , Tiana though. And when she looked into Regina's glassy eyes, she could see the slightest flecks of purple swirling in their depths, a storm brewing, but not far off from breaking. In the middle of her observation however, Regina came back to herself and stared directly into Tiana's eyes, no longer trying to regain control of her emotions, but locking Tiana in place with the intensity and force behind her pain.

"So, you see, _I_ understand _you_. To suddenly have been ripped from your love and yet, given no time to grieve at all. To have to pretend that everything is okay, when all you want to do is to scream, and cry, and _feel_. And worse than all of that, to find that in the moments of calm, you start to hope that maybe, just maybe, it will be okay, before you're crushed all over again."


End file.
